Wal-Mart Online Adds Small Town Appeal to the Big Box Retailer

While corporate megastores may have inched out smaller, charming branches, Wal-Mart Online will help the retailer return some of the small town appeal thanks to its newest initiative with Facebook.

A longtime criticism of Wal-Mart has been that each of the 3,500 nationwide locations looked identical. So in an attempt to regionalize and personalize their outlets, a network of Facebook pages -- one for each store -- will be launched within days. 'Wal-Mart Online' will allow customers to touch base with their local retailer by receiving exclusive deals, information about sales events and even contests. A map of the individual store will help customers navigate directly to the items on sale! Wal-Mart hopes that eventually, your pattern of 'liking' different products will help them tailor a personal shopping experience -- a potentially creepy notion, but it may end up being practical.